As the World Turns
by rookiebones
Summary: Simon/Rebecca oneshot


_I am really enjoying this show so far! I hope you all enjoy this story. I wrote this a few episodes in and am not really sure where I stand on a possible Rebecca/Simon relationship, but at the time I was all for it! Poetry at the beginning is original. I do not own Combat Hospital._

As the world turns

My life crumbles

Pores turn to holes

Organs hollow

As life begins

Ash upon ash

Skies cloud over

And I reach out

It had been another long day and all Rebecca wanted to do was curl up in her bed, but she couldn't seem to fall asleep. She felt heaviness on her chest and she was very conscious of the sound of her own heart, pounding faster as her anxiety increased.

Being a doctor, she was used to seeing the pain and suffering of others, but here in Kandahar she had no outlet for her frustrations. She felt like she was going through the motions, but not really living. She felt as if all she did was eat, work and sleep when she had the time. If only she could fall asleep.

Rebecca's pager started to beep and she groaned. She pulled it out of her pocket and acknowledged the inevitable. 911. Rebecca swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched. She pulled her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head and then pulled on the first clothes she could find before running out the door.

She nearly ran into Simon as he turned a corner and joined her. She felt him examining her face, but she masked her emotions.

"Did you get any sleep at all?" asked Simon.

"No," replied Rebecca. "Did you?"

"Yeah," said Simon. When Rebecca looked at him incredulously, he added, "But only about 20 minutes worth."

Simon and Rebecca met Bobby and Colonel Marks and Bobby out front, who were rolling a stretcher through the base towards the hospital. Another stretcher had just been unloaded from a van, so Simon and Rebecca grabbed it and followed the others.

"What happened?" asked Simon.

The soldier on their stretcher had been burned badly. Half of the skin on his face was gone. Rebecca tried to look everywhere except his eyes which were full of tears he was obviously trying to hold back. Her eyes quickly scanned the rest of his body, assessing the extent of his injuries.

"A bomb went off south of base," Colonel Marks called out to them.

Simon and Rebecca wheeled their patient into a free room. Once they were sure he was stable, Simon left to help with another patient.

"Can't you just put on a bandage and be done with it?" asked the patient.

"You won't be able to heal if I don't remove the dead skin," said Rebecca. "I'm sorry. I can give you a sedative so you won't feel a thing."

"No, no!" the soldier said vehemently. "No sedatives! Just get this over with!"

"If you change your mind, just let me know," said Rebecca.

The patient nodded. Rebecca picked up her tweezers. She began with the left side of his face. The patient winced and pulled his face away.

"Hold still please," said Rebecca.

She pulled another piece of dead skin from his face and once again the patient pulled away. Rebecca cupped her left hand to the patient's uninjured cheek, trying to keep him still. Their eyes made contact.

"What's your name?" asked Rebecca, softly.

She found that talking to patients helped to distract them from the pain they were feeling. Unfortunately, it made the whole process worse for her because it meant that they were no longer nameless patients.

"James," said the patient. "What's...? What's your name?"

"Rebecca," she replied. "Where are you from, James?"

"Vancouver."

"That's nice. I'm from Canada too. It's a far way to come."

"Yes."

They were silent for a while. James was in a lot of pain and closed his eyes.

"Rebecca?" asked James.

"Yes?"

"Can I have that sedative now?"

"Of course you can."

Rebecca glanced at a nurse who nodded and walked over to the other side of the room to get the sedative. She came back with a syringe. Rebecca administered the sedative and then finished removing all of the dead skin on James' face and neck.

Rebecca and the nurse began to remove James' top layers. When they had fully removed his vest and shirt they were surprised to see the imprint of a small square device on his chest. Rebecca quickly pulled up James' undershirt. She ran to the doorway when she saw what was underneath.

"Colonel Marks!" she screamed.

Colonel Marks appeared in the doorway of a room down the hall.

"You're going to want to see this!"

Colonel Marks jogged over to the room and she moved to let him by. His eyes immediately caught sight of the bomb.

"Shit," he muttered.

He went back into the hallway and shouted, "Code red! I repeat code red! There is a bomb in the building! Evacuate the premises now!"

The device on James' chest began to beep and Colonel Marks and Rebecca rushed over to it. A countdown had started and there were only five minutes on the timer.

"Come on," said Colonel Marks. "We need to help with the evacuation. Five minutes people!"

"We can't just leave him here!" cried Rebecca.

"Five minutes is not enough time to get the bomb squad here to disarm it and we need to get the others to safety! Come on, Gordon!"

Rebecca headed back to the door but then glanced back at James. He could be somebody's son, brother, lover and he was going to die alone. Nobody else would even try to help him. Rebecca jogged back to him and started to pull at the device. If she couldn't disarm it, maybe she could get it off of him and move him to safety.

The seconds ticked by and Rebecca was nowhere closer to disarming the bomb.

"Come on!" she cried out, frustrated.

Her hands were shaking and she was feeling very anxious. Now there were less than two minutes on the timer. Simon, who had been doing one last look-around to make sure everybody was evacuated, heard Rebecca's cry.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "You can't stay here!"

"I can do this!" she cried. "I can save him. Go if you want to, leave me behind."

"No, I can't do that!" said Simon. "I won't let you stay here and die."

Simon grabbed Rebecca around the waist and easily hoisted her over his shoulder.

"No!" screamed Rebecca. "No! Let me down!"

Simon began to run and ignored Rebecca's pleads. Rebecca's heart was pounding and tears began to escape her eyes. Simon and Rebecca made it out just before the bomb exploded and half of the hospital lit up with flames. Simon moved them further away from the hospital and set Rebecca on her feet.

"You asshole!" Rebecca screamed.

She began to lash out, punching Simon in the chest. He just let her, knowing she had to get it out of her system. Soon enough, she gave up on that and collapsed sobbing into his chest.

A little later, Colonel Marks asked Simon to accompany Rebecca to her room. Simon led Rebecca with one hand on the small of her back. He brought her to her room and made sure that she got into bed. Seeing her like this broke his heart, she looked so small and vulnerable.

"Simon?" Rebecca asked.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"Of course."

Simon dragged a chair next to her bed and sat down. Rebecca took Simon's hand into her own, held it against her heart and closed her eyes. Simon leaned in and kissed her on the forehead.

"Sweet dreams," he said softly. "You're safe now."


End file.
